


Rose to the Occasion

by StrawhatsAndDelibirds



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-22
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-18 10:03:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13097787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrawhatsAndDelibirds/pseuds/StrawhatsAndDelibirds
Summary: It's the past I want but will never get. With some alterations to canon to make it work better.





	1. Chapter 1

 

Once more, Rose Quartz found herself looking out into the zoo. In her defence it was part of her job, but she found herself watching how the silly little humans went about their business. They were so carefree and simple. 

 

This batch had been far more successful than the last few. This one had to be the one that Pink Diamond had been waiting for. They were so much more docile than the others, and were far quicker to follow instructions. It was a lot easier, but it left most of the other Rose Quartz without anything to do. 

 

She watched as the silly little things rolled down their hill. Did they know how short their existence was? And to think, they spent most of what little they had so useless. Either too small, or too frail, they were so lucky that Pink Diamond had been as merciful as she had been. Such creatures were fleeting and simple, but they here they spent the time in luxury as opposed to being out in the wild of both of their planet’s wild and uncivilized land. 

 

Yet she couldn’t help but envy the creatures, fleeting though they may be. Life on her end of the zoo was so static. Nothing changed. But in there, she could watch as the humans themselves changed. In what felt like instants, the humans would emerge from their organic exit holes and quickly grow until they suddenly stopped and shrank until their physical form couldn’t sustain them and they simply stopped and melted away into nothing because they had no gem to return to. Nothing was ever static about them. 

 

But here she was, just like all the other rose quartz, stuck with nothing to do until something happened to a human. This batch didn’t seem to have any defective trouble makers. They were content to follow the rules, just like a gem would. A fragile little gem built with dwindling resources, but for how long they lasted, they seemed to be doing fine.

 

Watching them tumble their day away, Rose couldn’t help but get lost in thought. She had seen precious little of the Earth before she was swept away to come work here, but was the rest of the Earth really like the little human paradise that was the zoo? She had heard from the odd Lapis Lazuli that the Earth was vast and much more bothersome than the zoo whenever they came to make the odd change for the humans, but this only made her want to see it more. 

 

A place that changed as much as the humans did, that was much more dynamic than the monotony that plagued her here. She couldn’t help but wonder if she was defective. The other Rose Quartz never seemed to have the problem she had. They seemed content to spend their days bunkered down and waiting for a human to have a problem for them to deal with. Maybe they all felt the same, but none of them wanted to say anything.

 

“They really are quite lovely, aren’t they.” A soft and even voice spoke from above her. Rose glanced over her shoulder, than snapped into a salute. Blue Diamond gently chuckled. “Now now. There is no need for that. I am simply a visiting diamond. You are not part of my court so there is no need for formalities.” 

 

Rose relaxed.

 

“Thank you, ma’am. Have you come to watch the humans? They truly are fascinating little creatures.” Her attention shifting from up at Blue Diamond, down to the humans below. She leaned against the glass to see the humans running around, blissfully unaware of anything around them.

 

“Yes, they really are interesting.” Blue Diamond remarked. “It is a shame what’s happening to their planet.” Rose looked up from the glass. 

 

“Something’s going to happen to Earth?” 

 

“Well, naturally Pink Diamond is going to use the resources there to create an army of gem soldiers of her own, and gem creation takes a costly toll on the planet. It’ll be used as a hub world for Pink Diamond to run. You haven’t been to one of our Homeworld’s, but once work is complete, the Earth will just be an empty husk. The humans here will be the last of their kind.” Blue Diamond began to tear up, as a result, both Rose and Blue Diamond’s pearl began to tear up. Rose couldn’t tell if her own tears were the result of the power Blue Diamond was said to have, or if these were from the news itself. 

 

“But- But Earth is so beautiful! How could Pink Diamond just do a thing like that! Can’t she just pick another planet to harvest gems from? You’re a Diamond, you should be able to talk some sense into her.” Hopefully her pleas weren’t overstepping some boundaries. 

 

“It certainly is a shame, but Pink Diamond simply won’t answer any of my calls, or even meet with me in person to talk about it. I’m afraid there’s nothing to be done.” How was she giving up so easily? She was a diamond, she had to have dealt with tougher than another diamond being difficult.

 

“Well what if I brought her to you?” Blue’s gaze moved from the humans to Rose.

 

“Well then, I suppose I would talk to her about it. But what would a rose quartz like yourself do to make her listen?”

 

“I… I haven’t thought that far through.” It was a little shameful to admit, given her outburst. But there was nothing to do about it now, except to soldier on. “But I have to try!” 

 

The mighty diamond stared at her, before chuckling. “Very well. I wish you the best of luck, Rose Quartz. I look forward to seeing your results.” She said, before pulling back from the glass, and gliding off into the other room. Her pearl twirled off behind her in typical pearl fashion. 

 

It took a moment for it to fully hit Rose what she had just done. She was going to have to do awful things. Because there was only one way that Pink Diamond was going to meet Blue Diamond like this was if she was poofed and brought there in her gem. But if it meant that it would keep creatures like these simple little humans, then it would all be for the best. She had the support of Blue Diamond, and from what she had seen she was nothing short of compassionate. 

 

This could work, but she was going to need to prepare. A lot had to be done.


	2. Chapter 2

This was her first offense. And the thought of it gave her such a thrill she worried about poofing right then and there. She had never really left the zoo, and that was mostly because she wasn’t supposed to. She was supposed to stay there forever and watch the little humans from afar unless they needed assistance. 

 

But here she was. 

 

It had been a long while since she had been on a warp pad. A good hundred, maybe even thousand years, but she had seen it been used. It was a simple tool, she had asked the lapis lazuli that came and went as the zoo’s landscape needed to be repaired or updated. A simple activation with your gem like you would a door, and then you thought of the warp in which you wanted to go. It was so simple, that maybe even a gem like her could do it.

 

She stood there on the pad, and she thought about Earth, maybe that would work. The warp pad glowed, and enveloped her with it, sending her up in a beautiful beam of light. Rose could faintly see through the light around her space speeding fast her in blurs of unknown stars and mysterious planets. Maybe one day she could see them, but already she was overreaching what a rose quartz should be doing. 

 

The place she landed in was most certainly a gem structure. She knew that emblem well. It was a sign of solidarity among the Diamonds, and the treaty between then to ensure peace remained between the four of them. But that was established thousands of years ago, so Pink Diamond being inactive for just a little bit wasn’t that big a deal. It was for the greater good anyways.

 

But now that she was here there was a problem. She never actually thought this far ahead, and the only real gems that she has ever interacted with were other rose quartz, holly blue agate, lapis lazuli, and the odd pearl and on the even rarer occasion a Diamond. The Diamonds never really bothered with bringing their courts with them to somewhere like a zoo. It was the safest place to go, even humans could safely be there.

 

She needed a weapon. But what gems could make a weapon was beyond her. She needed a weapon, something that could actually do something. Something that could easily break a gem’s physical form. She had a shield. Every gem that could summon a weapon knew how to do that from day one. It was something that other rose quartz did while they were waiting for something to happen. She had personally found out when a human tried to strike her with a rock, but as it turns out, her shield was stronger than a rock.

 

A shield was nice, but it wasn’t going to help her out in poofing a gem. Something sharp was more something she needed. But she was going to need help. What would a weapon maker even look like? 

 

“Uhhh… Excuse me?” A big grey gem asked.

 

“Oh! Hello, maybe you can help me.” The other gem looked at her quizzically. 

 

“Yeah, you look like you’re lost. You don’t look like you’re supposed to be here.” The gem looked her over. “Right now it’s just supposed to be us bismuth.”

 

“I’m looking for someone to help with a weapon. Bismuth build right? Could you build me a weapon I could fight with?”

 

“Someone like you fighting? You don’t really look like the fighting type.”

 

“Well, a rose quartz is still a quartz. I don’t see why I couldn’t learn to fight. I just need a weapon.” 

 

“Look, we’re very busy here. There’s not even anything to fight so I don’t know who you’re even planning to fight with anything.” The Bismuth said, as she turned to leave. 

 

“Look long story short, I need to poof a diamond.” The Bismuth stopped. She stayed like that for a few seconds before turning to face her. Her brow now furrowed as she stared at her.

 

“Excuse me? I don’t think I heard you correctly. You wanna what now?”

 

“I need to poof a diamond. Pink Diamond. It’s the only way to save the Earth.” 

 

“You can’t- What are- Are you out of your mind? It’s one thing to be unhappy with our Diamond’s choices, but this is- you can’t just say things like that out loud.”

 

“But it has to be done. If nothing happens then the Earth is going to die, along with every beautiful thing on it. If no one’s going to take action, then I will.” Hopefully this would be enough to get the help she needed.

 

“You honestly can’t be serious. You’re a rose quartz. That’s like a few levels up from a pearl doing something like that. You’ll be shattered in an instant. No questions asked.”

 

“Then at least I’ll have tried. I’ll have given my all to try and save what matters to me. But I don’t want to spend the rest of my life regretting not doing anything. I don’t want to see the home of the creatures I love turn into an empty husk.” 

 

“So you really serious about going through with this.”

 

“More serious than I have ever been.”

 

The Bismuth sighed and looked around, before grabbing Rose by the waist and hopping onto the warp before she could even say anything. 

 

The place they landed was an unfinished gem spire, right at the base of it. But it lead right into the Earth wilderness. It was so beautiful, she could barely wrap her head around it. The real thing strengthened her resolve. There was no way she could let this just disappear. The Bismuth set her down.

 

“This place right here is an abandoned ol’ project from a few centuries ago. The agate in charge didn’t pay much attention to the ground where we were building and the whole thing started to sink as soon as we started building. We barely got the ground floor done when we got called incompetent for messing up the dirt around here I guess and they shipped us off somewhere else.”

 

“It’s so beautiful here. I forgot just how breathtaking the real thing is.”

 

“It really is something else, isn’t it.” Bismuth put a hand on her shoulder.

 

“Alright, Rosie. Let’s get you a weapon.

 


	3. Chapter 3

Bismuth lead her from the abandoned spire and into the wilderness that surrounded it. Rose Quartz couldn’t help but take in the scenery with awe. The zoo had bits with trees that the humans could frolic in and have fun in, but this was so much more unkempt and wild. Loose twigs and such snapped under her feet, and thorns snagged on her dress. Had she been human, this would have torn up the poor darling’s feets.

 

The pain she felt for the poor little darlings caused tears to start falling. Tears that she would use to flick at the unruly plants and clear the way for them and bloom into beautiful pink flora. It effectively put an end to the thorny bramble. All it needed was a little love and it cleared right up. Bismuth looked at her with amazement.

 

“Wow… You rose quartz sure are something else.” She remarked. “But don’t… Don’t do that. We’re trying to sneak around and that’s just gonna lead them straight to us. This area’s abandoned, but that doesn’t mean that no one’s ever going to check here, that’s still a very real danger.” She went back to see just how far her powers reached. “Seems we’re in luck. It didn’t head too far back.” Bismuth continued to lead the way.

 

“You’ve really put a lot of thought into this.” 

 

“Well when you only get one shot at a job, you’d better get it right. That’s true for building for the Diamonds and it’s true for this.”

 

“What happens if you mess up a project?” Bismuth looked at Rose.

 

“If one of us messes up a project, then every bismuth and our supervisor will be shattered. Even over something as minor as the pillars being a bit off, or the markings being a shade too dark. That’s grounds enough to be shattered. Same thing will happen here. If we slip up even once and get caught, or if we can’t follow through with the deed, then it’ll all be for nothing and we’ll be as good as powder.”

 

“Well getting caught isn’t too big a concern. We just have to get Pink Diamond when her guard is down.” Bismuth stared at her. 

 

“And how do you plan on doing that. A diamond always brings her court with her. Thats a handful of quartz, a few agates, and a sapphire. I don’t know if you knew this, but a sapphire can see into the future. There’s no way to pull a surprise attack on a diamond, and there’s two of us.”

 

“Well if Pink Diamond is at the zoo, it’ll only be her and her pearl. No diamond has ever shown up there with her court. I just need a weapon that can break a gem’s physical form and that’ll be all we need.” Bismuth stared at her for a moment.

 

“It’s really that easy, huh? Guess you’d know, huh Rosie.” Bismuth chuckled. 

 

“I may not know a lot outside of the zoo, but I know everything about the zoo itself. A diamond’s court has never stepped foot in the zoo, I promise.”

 

The tricky bramble gave way to a beautiful mountain, with a more obvious path up it. It’d be a lot easier from here on up, and there’d be a lot less worrying about tripping and she could have a better view of it all.

 

“Y’know another reason why this spire was scrapped, was because it was so close to a volcano. Think of it as a big hot mountain full of liquid fire. Most gems can’t stand the heat, so in case one of these babies were to blow, it’d mean a full scale evacuation would be in order. And since this is meant for the elite who get to do nothing, they need the safest spots out there. It’d probably be picked back up once Pink’s done with the place,” a smirk crossed her lips, “unless we get to her first, that is.”

 

“Then there’s no time like the present! Are you going to take us to a gem that knows how to make weapons?” And if she lived out here, that would mean that this was a gem that completely lived on Earth. What would a gem on Earth even be like?

 

“You could say that. Whenever she gets a break between projects she comes up here and works on making bigger and badder weapons. Hasn’t told a soul about it, but exceptions can be made just this once.”

 

“Just this once? Then how’d you know about this? “ Bismuth chuckled as they got to the top, and stood in front of the big square stone that stuck out of the hardened gunk that coated the mountain side. 

 

“As bold and creative as you are, you’re not the smartest, are you Rosie.” She put her hands to her gem. It glowed softly before the cube reacted and opened up door after tiny door. “Tada~”

 

“Oh! How lovely!” She had no idea that builder gems were capable of stuff like this.

 

“You learn a little something when you spend centuries building temple after spire after arena after hub. A forge makes a nice change of pace. 

 

As they walked in, the forge was mostly empty, aside from a small pillar, a few drums of materials, and an anvil in the middle of the room. 

 

“So what kinda weapon were you thinking of?”

 

“Oh, I hadn’t actually thought about what I was going to use.”

 

“Well, why don’t I just make you some testers, and then I’ll make the real deal once you’ve decided.”

 

“Sounds good to me.”

 

“Great, now let’s get to Bismuth!”


	4. Chapter 4

She lounged across her cushioned surface in her room in her zoo. To say she was furious would be an understatement. The singing of her pearl was lost as the anger inside her bubbled and sizzled. To think that a gem as lowly as a rose quartz would dare defy her, it made her want to shatter every last one of them.

 

But she’d restrain herself for now. It would make for a much better lesson for the lot of them when that emboldened clod came back. She’d broadcast her shattering every last rose quartz for every gem she had to see, and then once the rest of them were shattered in front of that clod’s eyes, she’d shatter her too. She’d break her spirit then break her gem. 

 

Maybe she’d even slaughter the little humans they took care of. It wouldn’t be too hard to get more. Humans overran her planet, and had they not been as interesting as they were, or if they didn’t enrage the other diamonds that she used resources for this she would’ve simply killed them all. But there was still more than enough time to get more. Humans were made faster than pearls, it wouldn’t be too much effort. She’d just make more gems to care for them. 

 

She could use the shards of those useless rose quartz to decorate her zoo, and show those good for nothings just what happens when you cross Pink Diamond. That way not even the densest of gems could forget just how replacable they were. And no one would run off and go against her orders of staying here and doing their job.

 

She would also have to shatter some members of her court. They were taking far too long. They did have a sapphire with them. What good is future vision if you can’t even use it to see what your diamond needs to know? It would be a pain, but the Earth was a bountiful planet. Everyone of them could be remade, and made better than they were. 

 

“Pearl, send a message to the Kindergartens on Earth. Tell them to begin work on agates and sapphires. Perhaps some rubies as well.”

 

“Of course, my Diamond.” She pulled a little tablet from her gem and began to type a message to the peridots there. She would not shatter all of them. Simply one or two pairs that she sent out. Along with the rubies that went with them, at least one of them should have returned by now.

 

The door to her chamber opened, and who did she see but that clod of a rose quartz. She seemed unescorted, meaning that all of her court had failed. How disappointing for all of them.

 

“Pink Diamond! This is your last chance! Spare the Earth or face the consequences!” The nobody demanded, as if she held any power in the situation. It was so funny that she couldn’t help but laugh.

 

“A rose quartz? Giving me orders? How utterly absurd! What’s next? Is my pearl going to boss me around too? Ha!” It was so absurd that her rage had almost been forgotten. She leaves for a century and suddenly she forgot who it was she served.

 

The joke got less funny when a sword was tossed at the rose quartz, who then pointed it at her.

 

“Then you’ve brought this on yourself!” The rose quartz leapt at her. She supposed that this meant she was actually going to have to get up and put some actual effort into this. How annoying. But she’d make it quick. She’d deal with the rose quartz, then whatever other clod she had brought with her. 

 

She went to slap away the weapon, but she was blocked by a bismuth of all gems. Didn’t she have a spire to erect? Seemed as though she was going to have to have to add bismuth to the growing list of gems that were going to have to be remade. This whole outburst was going to ruin the planet that these clods thought they could protect. Honestly it was as stupid as it got.

 

She’d just decimate them both by sending an inferno their way. It’d poof their gems, if not melt them completely. Maybe she’d let them stay as miserable melted gems to watch the planet they love get drained of resources and turned into her new hub world before she shattered them.

 

The bismuth seemed unfazed and kept attacking, and the rose quartz by some twist of fate had a second weapon, a shield, to protect herself from the blow. An impossible feat that only served to enrage her further. She didn’t know who this clod was. But she was going to crack of bits and pieces of her gem until there was nothing left of it. What business did a rose quartz have to be like this. 

 

With a flick of her hand, the bubbled gems blocked the way of the incoming attacks. It stopped them for a moment, before she swung at them. An elemental attack wouldn’t work, but a blow from a diamond would be enough to stop those clods.

 

The door opened again, more traitors? She’d shatter them too. No one stood up against a diamond like this! 

 

The ruby saluted for a moment, and then froze as she took in the scene. Her lack of action proved her to be just as much of a traitor as these clods.

 

“Watch out my Diamond!” Her pearl called out, pulling her attention away long enough for a sword to be plunged into her stomach. 

 

She stumbled backwards a few steps before falling onto her cushioned surface. She had been stabbed, by a rose quartz. Shock and humiliation both fought over what she felt more as she stared down at the sword that now stuck out of her stomach.

 

How could this have even happened? A diamond, done in by a rose quartz and a bismuth? A zookeeper and a builder? She was a leader, they were supposed to serve her. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go at all.

 

She wouldn’t forget this. When she reformed, there was going to be hell to pay. She was going to make all her plans for her seem like nothing! She was going to know the true meaning of suffering!

 

And then she poofed.

  
  



	5. Chapter 5

Rose had bubbled Pink Diamond’s gem and ran. She had to go straight to Blue Diamond, or this whole plan would fail. She’d meet up with Bismuth back at the forge later. Bismuth was more than capable enough to hide from the ruby and Pink Diamond’s pearl. 

 

She had no idea where to find Blue Diamond, but Bismuth had been smart enough to toss her a diamond communicator before she left. She was only pretty sure she knew how to use it, but now wasn’t the time to be uncertain. Now was the time for action. 

 

The temple she had warped to had been floating, so she decided to just run off of the edge. Hopefully, no gem had the time to process that they just saw her run off the edge with a bubbled gem and a diamond communicator, especially since the gem in the bubble was Pink Diamond and there would be absolute hell to pay if anyone saw the gem in there was their diamond. 

 

Floating down there was plenty of time to think about what she’d just done. She had just poofed a diamond. Out of all the things you’re not supposed to do she took down her own diamond. Everything seemed so surreal. From the bubble in her hand to the wilderness that extended out beneath her. Wilderness that her actions had just saved. 

 

She fidgeted with the communicator as she drifted down. A blue diamond shaped pattern lit up in the air in front of her. Blue Diamond’s pearl answered. But before she could answer, she gasped, and passed the device up to her diamond.

 

“What is- Oh… Oh my. You actually managed it.” Blue Diamond seemed just as shocked as she did. “Well this is excellent news. I’ll be waiting for you at Earth’s Sky Spire.” 

 

“Yes of course! I’ll be right there!” The transmission ended, and she decided that it would be best if she just landed, then jumped up back to the temple, and used the warp from there. A few gems yelled after her, but she had no time to listen. She had to meet with Blue Diamond and there was no time to waste.

 

It took some time to actually find the place, but the place with the obvious big blue hand was the place where Blue Diamond was waiting for her. There was also a big white head. She had no idea that White Diamond was also going to be here. This meant that Pink Diamond was going to have no choice but to listen to her now.

 

But the Diamonds had been waiting long enough, so with all the speed she had, she rushed to the top of the spire. 

 

Blue Diamond and White Diamond waited patiently in their palanquins at the top of the spire, as per normal, their pearls waiting on the edges of it. Upon seeing her, they rose and left the safety to greet her. Rose greeted them back by saluting them.

 

“At ease. You’ve done well, Rose Quartz. You’ve gone far beyond our expectations.” Blue Diamond praised.

 

“With that out of the way, all will return to normal.” White DIamond added. 

 

“Thank you, my Diamonds. With your help, the Earth will be saved.” She popped the bubble, placing Pink Diamond’s gem on the ground and stepping back for her to reform properly. 

 

But Blue DIamond had other plans. Using water that at her command flowed from her gem, Blue Diamond created an icy spear and readied it. Rose was completely lost. Why did Blue Diamond arm herself, Pink Diamond hadn’t even begun to reform, so she wasn’t at all hostile. 

 

“My Diamonds! That gem is a traitor!” The voice of Pink Pearl cried out as she ran towards the diamonds and blocked the way between Rose and their giant leaders.

 

Blue Diamond looked down upon Pink Diamond’s pearl with disgust, then bent down and crushed the pearl with her thumb. Rose was utterly appalled. How could she just do that like it was nothing.

 

“Silence.” Blue Diamond ordered, as if the shards would fight back. And then with one swift move, Blue Diamond used her spear and shattered Pink Diamond’s gem.

 

She then stood back up, and loomed over Rose.

 

“Rose Quartz, for the crime of shattering a diamond, you will be broken by a thousand shards.” White Diamond declared. 

 

She was completely shocked. She had done exactly what they asked of her. She brought them Pink Diamond, but they were the one that lied to her. They hadn’t spoken to Pink Diamond, this wasn’t settled the way she wanted it to. This was all wrong.

 

“But she didn’t shatter her.” White Diamond’s pearl objected. 

 

Both remaining diamonds attention turned to her, with the hardest of glares. The pearl shrank and Rose knew that this would be the end of that pearl. 

 

But something in her couldn’t let that happen. Two gems had been shattered because of her today, and she couldn’t let another. She rushed at the pearl and leapt off the edge, encasing them both in a bubble as they descended. 

 

The bubble kept getting nicked by spears, before getting thrown by a gust of wind into the ground. The bubble hit the ground and bounced off into the distance.

 

Rose unbubbled them, then made a bubble to keep bouncing off. She dropped down with the pearl in her arms as the bubble went off into the distance. 

 

She hid them away in a little cave in the side of a mountain in the area by the sky spire as the empty bubble pinballed off into the distant. The pearl looked up at her, completely shocked.

 

“You didn’t have to do that. I’m just a pearl, I’m replaceable.” 

 

“You’re a gem as much as I am, and as much as the diamonds are. And on Earth we’re going to make it so any gem can be whatever they want to be.” 

 

“But the diamonds aren’t going to let that happen.”

 

“Well then I won’t let them. I took down a diamond already didn’t I? I’m a criminal no matter what, so why not just go all the way. Let’s make a home on this planet, together.” 

 


End file.
